Demi Again

Nearly a year later...

A blurry photo is better than no photo at all. It turns out that a blurry photo is also much better than the effort required to take a better photo at 3am. Ergo...yes.

I decided to make the back plain because it would go more quickly and I found it more aesthetically pleasing. I hope to finish this piece in the next few days. (I actually put off knitting to redo my header and update all the various HTML issues with this blog. Now that I'm done, can I say: so gorgeous. I can't stop looking at it.) I want to finish the entire thing before I go to Paris. I have just over a month. Can I do it?

The color in this photo is much more accurate than in any of the previous photos.

Hats

I took a long break from any sort of fiber art because I had become bored with it all. It also didn't help that I had a really busy semester. Anyway, I spent a week at my parents' house in Seattle for Christmas. Idle hands being the devil's playthings and all, I came up with two hats:

The Seattle Beanie


A fabulous dirty mirror shot, complete with spur-of-the-moment lack of makeup and scraggly hair.







Pattern: My own. Want to know it? Crochet a circle. Alternate rows of sc with popcorn stitch. Do some decreases. The end.
Yarn: Wool Ease Chunky in charcoal, 1 skein. I ran out of that toward the end so I used Wool Ease Worsted in oxford grey for a row of sc and slip stitch.
Hook: Oh, who the hell knows. J? I don't know. Whatever the Wool Ease label recommended, probably.
Thoughts: Easy. It took a few hours. Both of my parents liked it. (My dad said I looked like Mary Tyler Moore.) The extreme thickness kept me very warm. Better pictures someday when I'm feeling glamorous.


Thistle Earflap Hat




Didn't really feel like getting gussied up for this one either.




Yeah, I didn't sew in the pink ends, and I probably won't ever. "Why? Don't wanna." --Stephen Colbert.

Pattern: My own, influenced by several elements: the shape is based on Knitty's Cross Country; the thistle pattern is a modified version of the one seen here; the random white-and-grey pattern is taken from here.
Yarn: Various acrylic from my mom's stash. I think Wool Ease and Red Heart were key players.
Needles: US6? 5? Not sure. DPNs. Plastic. Nice.
Thoughts: I was hoping the sc around the bottom edge would stop the curling, but it doesn't (though it doesn't curl too much when I'm wearing it). I didn't swatch; I just cast on the appropriate amount of stitches (108 I think; it seemed like a reasonable number, plus it worked with both the thistle and the white-and-grey pattern) and played it by ear. It ended up being kind of tight, but maybe it'll stretch over time. I don't really like the way I did the decreases for the top; I had no idea how those would turn out, and it just sticks up funny and looks kind of silly. Overall I think this is a pretty badass hat, but I'm just not a hat person. It's a shame, because they're so quick and allow for lots of variation.

Aimee

So now, nearly a year later, I'm finally getting around to wearing Aimee.

My love for Ze Frank's daily truth segments and my love for knitting collide!

FO Stands for Failed Operation

My life is apparently one giant stitch 'n botch.

More than a month after the fact, I present my failed Aimee:

I haven't even knit the collar or woven in the last few ends. I tried it on, and it makes my torso look even shorter and chunkier than it normally looks. That's why you're getting the hanger-only shot. Blah.
Pattern: Aimee from Rowan Vintage Style, designed by Kim Hargreaves
Yarn: Misti Alpaca Laceweight
Modifications: Lengthened the body. Eliminated the ribbon thing.
Thoughts: I really wish this fit. Maybe when I lose 10 more pounds. If I had thought about it, I would have done a unified edging thing: the bottom hem is picot, the sleeves have garter stitch, and the neck is reverse St st; I should have just done everything garter stitch, which would have eliminated that pain-in-the-ass hem.

And for Shedir:

Pattern: Shedir for Knitty, designed by Jenna Wilson.
Yarn: Rowan Cashsoft DK in Thunder, 1 ball + some more
Modifications: Knit on US5 DPNs; did 7 pattern repeats and 4 pattern row repeats.
Thoughts: This is a clever pattern, and I like clever patterns. As I mentioned in a previous post, I stupidly used the wrongest yarn that ever wronged for this pattern; my cables are too messy as a result. If I were to do it again, I'd twist the cable stitches for better definition. I guess the biggest thought I'm having now is how I'll never wear this hat, because of the point at the top. One person on Craftster said she made this hat using 7 body repeats, and she didn't say anything about a pointy top, so I figured it would be okay. It's not. This hat actually fits me, unlike Odessa, but the point. Yuck. Between Odessa and Shedir, I spent $19 on yarn for hats that I'll never wear. Maybe sometime I'll frog them and make a 3/4 sleeve OSW or something.

This is so disheartening, to have so many FOs that I'll never wear. Like I said before, I'm really hoping Demi will turn out nice so I'll have motivation to keep on knitting.